Mikel Arteta has tipped Max Dowman to be the next Arsenal teenager who can break into the first team and described the 15-year-old as a “big, big talent”.
Dowman has been training with Arsenal’s first team for several months and was part of the group that went to Dubai in February for a warm weather camp. He became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Uefa Youth League in September at the age of 14 years, eight months and 19 days and also starred for Arsenal’s under-18s in their run to the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup.
Premier League regulations prevent players who were not 15 at the start of a season from playing, meaning Dowman will not be able to surpass Ethan Nwaneri’s record as the competition’s youngest player, set in September 2022 when Nwaneri was 15 years and 181 days old. But Arteta was asked whether the attacking midfielder, who has drawn comparisons to Martin Ødegaard, could be an option for next season after the success of the academy graduates Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
“For the near future, yes,” he said. “Now he is involved in the squad. He trains with us a lot. Does that mean he will play in the Premier League many games? I don’t know; depends how good he is and how impressive he is and how much he offers the team like Ethan, like Myles, like any other player in the squad. Let’s see how this evolves but we certainly got a big, big talent there.
“I think he is in the right pathway and everybody in the academy has done an incredible job to consistently protect him, inspire him, challenge him, keep him always up and the levels that he could produce, and he is doing well. He is doing the right steps and taking it slowly. He will dictate how fast we go.”
Arteta admitted it had been “painful” to watch “a small part” of Liverpool’s title celebrations last weekend but congratulated Arne Slot’s side for their achievement. Thomas Partey is expected to return in midfield against Bournemouth on Saturday after missing the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain, and Arteta was positive about the prospect of Kai Havertz returning from a hamstring injury ahead of schedule. “If everything goes the way it’s going at the moment and the way it’s planned, I think he will have a chance to play a few games in the season,” he said.
Arteta also said midfielder Jorginho is recovering from a lung problem and may play again this season. The 33-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, made his last appearance on 12 April against Brentford, when he was forced off with an apparent chest injury. “It got a bit more complicated than expected,” said Arteta. “He’s fine, he’s recovering well.”
Arsenal have not confirmed details of the Italian’s injury but sources have indicated he sustained a punctured lung. On the prospect of his vice-captain playing again this season, Arteta said: “I think so, if everything goes OK in the next week or so.”
The manager was also optimistic about William Saliba’s future despite the Frenchman having been linked with a move to Real Madrid as he enters the final two years of his contract. “I leave those kind of things more for [the sporting director] Andrea [Berta] and the club to talk about,” he said. “What I’m certain, because I had a conversation with him, that he’s so happy here, that he wants to continue with us.”
